Happy April Fool's Day!! IWSG post. You're dreaming, right? Or is it your goal speaking?

Hello and welcome to April, the month where it's all happening! Today is IWSG post day, so thanks to Alex J Cavanaugh and his helpers for this month, Suzanne Furness,Tonja Drecker, Toi Thomas, Rachna Chabria, Fundy Blue, and Donna Hole! Thanks for collating this huge meme good people.

Also starting today, many bloggers are participating in the ginormous A - Z Challenge. Those who are not are often on a blog break where they're using their time to get their WIP underway, edited, polished, submitted etc. or working on other myriad writing projects.

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I've participated in the A - Z for several years, but decided against it again this year. Instead, I'm doing my own AprNoWriMo (my own little NaNoWriMo) where after months of 'hunting and gathering' (research) I'm going to work on the first draft of my Paris story and comment on some A - Z posts that catch my eye.

Thinking about writing goals can make us insecure, as everyone else seems to have their first, second and third novel published and are working on their fourth, fifth or six. Hmm. Wherever we sit in the novel/short story/flash fiction/freelance magazine/blogging or newspaper article spectrum, it doesn't hurt to have a dream/goal/idealised future, does it? Life would be soooo dull without dreams.

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But writer's dreams can be dashed in a flash--a form rejection from a publisher/editor you just know should love your story idea, leaving you wondering where to turn next. So most of us have learned that a writer needs to :

• balance dreams and goals. 
• a dream is something that happens as if by magic (mega sales of your book, a review in the Paris Review, winning first prize in that prestigious writing competition). You have almost no control over these dreams, so try to keep them to a minimum (as if...)
• A goal is something you can work towards--finishing your second book within a year of your first, sending stories out to high-profile magazines, investing in a fancy schmanchy camera so the editor can't resist buying your pictures etc. Working on your goals will help stir up the magic that makes your dreams come true. (Oooh, National Geographic just came calling!)

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• What are your goals for April?
• What are your dreams for the future?
• If you're planning a new book during April, here is a fantastic link to Jami Gold if you don't follow her. What she doesn't know about writing isn't worth knowing.